Our destination was the summit of the Grand Teton in Teton National Park, WY. At 13,775 feet above sea level, we'd have a 5,000 foot hike over 7 miles and then 2,200 feet of technical rock.

We took a day to hike in. Then we got an alpine start on the Petzoldt Ridge, an exposed 800 foot rock route leading to a more moderate 1,200 feet on the Upper Exum Ridge. Almost 14 hours later we were back at our camp.

The most effective teams have a consistent focus on both structure and relationships. They know that being strong in both areas is critical to maximizing their potential.

By structure I mean that the right components are in place - I call these the cultural building blocks of a team - that enable team success. For example, purpose is clear, communication strategy supports the team's purpose, and norms drive a common and collective way of working together.

Imposing your own goals on team members is one of the fastest ways to lose their commitment.

Goal setting is a collaborative process. The role of the leader is to provide coaching to ensure everyone is in line with overall team goals. Make sure any online collaboration tools or other technology you use to support the goal-setting process doesn’t take the place of crucial in-person conversations.

"It's faster to do it myself than to delegate it to others..." or "If I want it done right, I'm the one who has to do it..." or "Let me do this for you..."
These are the words of the Rescuer - the person, or in this case the leader, who solves problems for others that they should solve for themselves.

We utilize the DiSC profile by Inscape publishing in several of our team building and leadership development programs here in Denver, Colorado. DiSC provides people with a framework for understanding their own style and how they differ from others. This framework helps team members and leaders elevate their effectiveness regardless of their role. Here are some applications in which we use DiSC.

No one likes to hurt someone else’s feelings, but that doesn’t justify providing feedback that’s so fluffy you never actually state the main point.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m not asking you to be ruthless. Use positives, but don’t smother the message with them. The challenge is to make sure the constructive part of your feedback is clear, or else there’s no sense giving feedback!

One of the first mistakes new leaders make is to hold back on communication. Usually, this reluctance comes from fear, and it often breaks down into two (bad!) leadership styles:

Leaders who are concerned about losing control often overcompensate by micromanaging and being overly focused on tasks and results. They dole out stingy bits of information on a need-to-know basis, even though their people definitely need to know!